2013 Films

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Friday, 16 December 2016

Paterson

Jim Jarmusch’s latest film, Paterson, is about a bus driver named
Paterson in the city of Paterson, New Jersey. The film is about a week in the
life of the poetry loving bus driver and his relationship with others, such as
his wife Laura (Golshifteh Farahani) who is a stay-at-home artist.

Paterson isn’t a film for someone looking for a story in the
traditional sense, anyone wishing or looking for something with a standard
narrative with three acts should look elsewhere. Instead it is beautifully measured
and crafted character study following Paterson for a week of his life as he drives
a bus through the streets of Paterson, listening in to the conversations of his
passengers. His life is one of routine, he wakes up at a similar time every
day, he walks to work, does his job, returns home, and walks the grumpy looking
English bulldog whilst stopping at a bar for a quiet drink.

Adam Driver is excellent in the
lead role, despite it not being a showy or dramatic performance it’s a
captivating one from Adam Driver whose poetry writing bus driver’s interactions
with friends and members of the public (including a would be rapper and a dog
loving gangbanger) make for compelling and often humorous viewing. One of the
things that works well in the film is the lives of others in the film, you
almost yearn to know more about the lives of the people of Paterson merely from
the brief interactions Paterson has with the locals. Even though Paterson’s
life is central to the film, it gives the impression that there are many others
stories worthy of following.

On the more negative side, an
issue with the film is the character of Laura, she’s presented as someone who’d
rather stay at home pursing things she likes and wastes time painting circles
on shower curtains. Apart from being immensely annoying, her lack of
responsibility and lack of any grasp of reality just makes her seem immature, and
a poor ditzy caricature of a sweet but ditzy woman. This left a negative effect on what should have been a
tender relationship between Paterson and Laura, instead it ended up being the
least interesting aspect of the film.

The city of Paterson is looking a
bit run down with its boarded up businesses and grimy streets, but there are
places of beauty and the city’s pride in its identity and heritage is very
infectious, making the viewer affectionate to the city and the people within
the city. The film’s blissful simplicity makes for a thoughtful film.